Basketball Advances to NEWMAC Semifinals
SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (February 21, 2007) - Senior guard Angela Astuccio (Foxboro, Mass.) netted her 1,000th point in a 27-point scoring effort to boost the Lyons over Coast Guard, 65-52. Astuccio becomes the tenth player in Mount Holyoke College history to reach the 1,000 point mark. The win improves the Lyons record to 19-7 overall and advances them to the semifinals of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) tournament. Coast Guard ends its season with a 13-13 overall record.
Both teams battled for control over the first 10 minutes of the game, as the competitors traded baskets and knotted the score four times. A lay-up by MHC first year Michelle Kowalski (Springfield, Mass.) brought the score to a 15-15 stalemate. Angela Astuccio and Jessica Olson (Gilbert, Ariz.) each hit a jumper to give MHC a four-point edge. The Bears answered back with a 6-2 run, giving Coast Guard the 21-20 lead with 6:29 remaining in the first frame. Mount Holyoke put together a string of baskets to earn its largest lead of the half, 29-23, with 2:26 to go. MHC ended the half ahead, 31-27.
Mount Holyoke ignited its offense with a 13-1 run over the first five minutes of the second stanza. Coast Guard's DeCarol Davis (Woodbridge, Va.) whittled the deficit to just seven points by draining three consecutive three-pointers. MHC replied a 10-2 run, highlighted by Astuccio's 1,000th point scored at the 9:16 mark on the front-end of two free throws. The Lyons held off Coast Guard's final strike to win, 65-42.
Astuccio led all scorers with 27 points on an 11-of-19 shooting performance and a perfect 3-of-3 from the charity stripe. Senior co-captain Joeanna Silvey (Boston, Mass.) notched 16 points, hitting six-of-10 from field-goal range. Marisa Barone (Ludlow, Mass) chipped in 10 points and picked up a team-high four steals in the victory. Both Astuccio and Olson tallied a team-high nine boards. As a team, the Lyons shot an impressive 44.6% from the floor and 85.7% from the free throw line.
First year Melissa Martinelli (Vero Beach, Fla.) tallied a team-high 16 points for the Bears. Junior DeCarol Davis finished the game with a double-double, registering 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. The NEWMAC's leading scorer Natalie Moyer (Oklahoma City, Okla.) was held to 12 points, seven below her average. The Bears hit 32.7% from field-goal range and 36.8% from behind the arc.
The second-seeded Lyons advance to the semifinals of the NEWMAC tournament to play sixth-seeded Babson College. During the regular season, MHC defeated Babson, 69-42. The semifinals and finals will be hosted by the top-seeded WPI.